Officers

At its origins in 1916, ESA established the offices of President, Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer. A Business Manager was added in 1920, and the offices of Secretary and Treasurer were split in 1939. The Treasurer and Business Manager positions were eliminated in a 1995 restructuring that split the Vice President office four ways, outlined below.

ESA hired an Executive Director (Brian Keller) in April 1994 for the first time. As the membership grew, it became too cumbersome to have all decisions made by Council with an Executive Committee filling in between the annual meetings; the Constitution and Bylaws were completely rewritten effective spring 1995. A Governing Board now makes most decisions, and a business office was established in Washington, D.C. at that time. This restructuring eliminated the Vice-President position and created instead a President-Elect, who serves as President a year after his/her election. Four separate Vice-Presidents were initiated at the same time with differing portfolios.

New officers are installed at the conclusion of each annual meeting, with the President-Elect from the previous year becoming President. In 1968, the term of office was shifted from the calendar year to a mid-year changeover. The Vice Presidents and Secretary serve 3-year terms. The three members-at-large of the Governing Board are elected for two-year terms.

A table of all ESA officers can be found here. For officer lists for individual offices, please see the links in the sidebar.